A Watchman for God's people

I've been reading through the book of Ezekiel and came across some passages in chapter 3 and chapter 33 that really caught my attention. In these chapters, God calls upon Ezekiel to be a watchman over Israel. Whatever warning God wanted to give to Israel, He would do so through Ezekiel. If Ezekiel proclaimed to the Israelites the word of God, then whether or not they complied was out of Ezekiel's hands. But if he did not warn them and they suffered from God's wrath, then Ezekiel would suffer as well for his failure to speak.

As a pastor, I believe God has given me the right to speak on His behalf to His people. And like the warning God gave to Ezekiel, if I don't speak to God's people on His behalf then I am just as guilty as they are when they fall away from God. This hits home especially with the students that I serve. They are at a point in their lives where they are craving direction and insight - what an awesome task I have to teach them God's truth for their lives!

I have been reading "Why We're Not Emergent" (yes, I'm still reading it)and an area that sticks out to me about all of the trendy pastors out there who accept the label of emergent is their unwillingness to just "tell it like it is." It seems that they are almost afraid to offend anyone with what the Bible teaches. They will call themselves Bible Churches and will even claim to be evangelicals, but they won't risk hurting the feelings of their congregations (which in turn would certainly hurt their attendance numbers). Honestly, who cares about feelings when it comes to matters of spiritual life and death?

We can't afford to dance around issues in our churches. No one wants to hear "hell fire and brimstone" every Sunday, but God's people deserve to be warned from God's Word. God takes no delight in those who perish but would rather see the wicked repent and turn to Him (Ezekiel 18:23, 33:11). Sadly, many sit in churches every Sunday listening to entertaining sermons that tickle the ears but desperately leave the soul craving for more. As one of God's watchmen, I want to make it my aim to never leave the students or the adults I serve without the full picture painted from God's Word.